Inside The Huskies

Back to a Reliable Source, Huskies Add German Player

Hannes Steinbach, just 18, is a 6-foot-10 big man who reportedly is headed to Montlake.

Dan Raley

Hannes Steinbach of Germany as committed to the UW.
Hannes Steinbach of Germany as committed to the UW. / Ersin Demir

After a significant lull, the University of Washington finally has returned to a reliable source for basketball talent -- Germany.

On Thursday, multiple news outlets beginning with ESPN reported that 6-foot-10 forward Hannes Steinbach, who plays in Wurzburg, has committed to coach Danny Sprinkle and the Huskies.

He gives the UW its second roster addition this week alongside 6-foot-10 Lathan Sommerville, formerly of Rutgers, as Sprinkle puts the Huskies through a near total team makeover since a last-place Big Ten finish.

Steinbach, just 18, plays in Germany's Pro B League and has been singled out by analysts as one of Europe's top talents for Under 19 players. He appears to have a well-rounded game, shooting well both inside and out, and is described as very fundamentally sound.

Beginning with Marv Harshman's teams of the 1980s, the UW has had a rich history of bringing German players to Montlake and making a lot of things happen with them, beginning with 6-foot-9 Detlef Schrempf (1982-85).

Schrempf, 62 and still living in the area and attending UW games, helped lead the Huskies to a pair of NCAA Tournaments, was a two-time All-Pac-10 players and enjoyed a 16-year NBA career.

He teamed with the late 7-foot Christian Welp, the UW's all-time leading scorer with 2,073 points (1984-87), the 1986 Pac-10 Player of the Year, a three-time all-conference selection and a five-year NBA player.

Schrempf, from Leverkusen, and Welp, born in Delmenhorst, both played high school basketball in Washington state before enrolling at the UW.

Welp was 51 when he died in 2015 from a heart attack while at his cabin in Hood Canal.

Next up to make an impact was 7-foot-1 Patrick Femerling, who helped the Huskies advance to the 1998 NCAA Tournament and played a dozen years of European pro basketball.

The most recent German to play for the Huskies was 6-foot-8 Martin Breunig, who lasted two seasons (2012-13) before transferring to Montana, where he had much more college success. He's still playing international pro basketball.

To get the latest Husky football and basketball news, go to si.com/college/washington

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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